


Dreams of the Void

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Fear, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmare, falling from a cliff is a traumatic experience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-01
Updated: 2013-02-01
Packaged: 2017-11-27 19:00:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/665366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since their encounter with Azog, Ori's sleep had been troubled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreams of the Void

Ever since their encounter with Azog, Ori's sleep had been troubled. Not that he had any fear of orcs and goblins. These he could manage, he had learned it the hard way. He'd surprised everyone, including himself, by fighting just as well at the rest of the company.

But then, there had been the trees.

Ori had never been too comfortable with heights to begin with, and climbing trees was a hobby he happily left to other people. That was probably why his grip on the branches had been less assured than he should have been, and why he ended falling, dragging his brother with him.

They had been saved, of course, or he wouldn't be there anymore. No one could have survived such a fall, he knew that. He'd had plenty of time to see the distance between his falling body and to ground. It felt like it would have taken him hours to land, but he could only too well imagine the excruciating pain, the broken bones, his smashed head, the barely dwarvish shape that would be left on the earth.

He's see it every time he closed his eyes. There were variations of course. In one dream, he would fall endlessly, never even knowing the peace of death. In another, Dori would fall faster than him, and he'd see him agonize for hours before he too hit the ground. The worst of all was when he'd manage to stay on the tree, only to watch everyone die fall and die in his place.

Ori was fairly sure he screamed and thrashed about when he had these nightmares. Once or twice, he woke up, cover in sweat, his body paralyzed, and Dori above him, trying to sooth him with soft nonsense, the way one would calm a child. It helped, for a little while. Ori would relax, and go back to sleep, until the nightmares attacked again.

Their first night at Beorn's, the young dwarf had a particularly bad dream that had him kicking and yelling and when Dori tried to calm him as usual, Ori, still half in the dream, had attacked him, bitting his wrist hard enough to draw blood.

After that, Ori had made a point of sleeping away from the others, at least while they were somewhere safe. Beorn's kitchen was fairly comfortable, and his screams did not disturb anyone there.

* * *

They'd been a week already at Beorn's, healing their wounds, resting, stuffing themselves with food in prevision for the rest of the travel. The next step on their quest was to go through Mirkwood, and several of them were worried. Dwarves did do well in forests. But Ori did not share their aprehensions. It would feel almost like being underground, he thought, and maybe that would help him with his dreams, if he no longer had to stare at the endless sky.

Still, that night was one of the worse he'd had yet, and it was entirely Kili's fault. The foolish young prince had thought it funny to climb up Beorn's apple tree, jumping from branch to branch, then from one tree to another. Ori's eyes had not left him for one second and when the prince had slipped, falling to the ground, the young dwarf had been the first at his side. Kili had been fine of course, laughing at himself and calling Ori a mother hen, teasing him for all his fussing, then standing up again and going back in that damn tree as if there was nothing funnier to do in the world.

In his dreams, Ori saw the prince falling again and again, laughing even as he hit the ground and his head exploded in millions of bloody fragments. Ori tried to save him every time, jumping after him, but something would stop him and he was stuck there, on top of that cliff, watching the dwarf he loved die a painful death.

The second time he woke up, he was screaming Kili's name. At least, he thought it was the second time. He was never sure, the difference between asleep and awake growing thinner in the night.

What he was sure of, on the other hand, was that there was someone right beside him. Before he could worry too much, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, followed by a voice he knew only too well.

"Don't fret, it's just me," Kili whispered. "I heard you calling my name, I came to see if something was wrong. Dori said you'd been having nightmares lately?"

The young dwarf nodded, not sure he was awake enough to try to speak.

"Well, there's nothing to worry about now," Kili said, moving to lie down next to him. "I'll stay with you and protect you from bad dreams, okay?"

"I'll kick you," Ori croaked, voice still hoarse from yelling. "I bit Dori the other day. Probably better you don't stay."

"Yeah, but I'm not Dori, am I? You like me better than him."

Kili moved closer to the younger dwarf, one arm on his chest, his head against Ori's shoulder.

"I know you won't hurt me," Kili assured him, already starting to fall asleep. "I'm safe with you, and you're safe with me."

It was stupid, of course, but it made Ori smile, and he moved too, to hold the other one close to him. As he closed his eyes again, he felt sure the dreams would not come back that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Ori almost died after their encounter with Azog, and I can't imagine it didn't have some effet on him, especially considering dwarves probably don't like heights to being with...D:


End file.
